GAME #5: Cornell at Penn
GAMETIME: Friday, Oct. 16 at 7:00 p.m.
SITE: Franklin Field, Philadelphia, Pa.
2009 RECORDS: Cornell (2-2, 2-1 CSFL); Penn (3-1, 1-1 CSFL)
SERIES RECORD: Cornell leads, 57-33
LAST MEETING: Penn defeated Cornell, 20-14, at Schoellkopf Field on Sept. 19, 2009
LIVE STATS: www.PennAthletics.com
THE HEAD COACH: Coach Terry Cullen's record moved to 151-124-7 (.549) after a victory over Princeton last weekend. Cullen has been a member of the coaching staff since 1964 and officially became the Terry Cullen Head Coach of Sprint Football in 2001.
THE CO-HEAD COACH: In August, 2008, it was announced that Bart Guccia would assume a majority of the on-field coaching and gameday decisions for the Big Red. Guccia is in his fourth year with the sprint football team and has posted a 7-4 record (.636) in his new role.
THE MATCH UP: The Big Red will look to keep its hopes of a CSFL title alive when it meets Penn in a conference-bout this Friday, Oct. 16, at Franklin Field at 7 p.m. The last time these two teams met, Penn defeated Cornell 20-14 in a non-conference match up that ended the longest home winning streak in Big Red history. Cornell is coming off a dominating victory over Princeton and the offense has found its groove at the right time of the season. Cornell's last victory over the Quakers came nearly a year on last Oct. 17, 2008, as the Big Red ended Penn's perfect season with a 23-20 win.
SCOUTING THE QUAKERS: The Cornell defense will have its hands full with the high-powered Penn offense. The Quakers are the number one ranked offense in the CSFL, averaging 485 yards a game, more than 110 yards more than second-place Army. Quarterback Todd Busler is making a strong case for CSFL MVP in his first year as a starter. He has thrown for nearly twice as many yards (1,300) as any other quarterback in the CSFL, and his 10 touchdown passes also lead the league. Whit Shaw has been Busler's favorite target, leading the CSFL in all receiving categories, including receptions (30), yards (608), and touchdowns (6). Veteran running back Mike Bagnoli also is a strong weapon on offense, leading the CSFL in most rushing statistics, including carries (87), yards (565), and touchdowns (7). Although the defense has been strong, led by linebackers Mike McMullen and Sam Biddle, Army found several holes last weekend en route to a 35-point output.
LAST TIME VS. PENN: Cornell started the season with a whole new crew of offensive starters in a 20-14 loss to Penn at Schoellkopf Field. After both teams struggled to put points on the board for the first 22 minutes, Penn struck first with a 26-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Todd Busler to take the 7-0 lead. The Big Red responded immediately with a circus catch by D.J. Schiavetta, who tipped the ball to himself around the defender at midfield to run in for the game tying score. Busler led another Penn drive near the end of the half that resulted in another Quaker touchdown and a 14-7 halftime lead. Penn then came out of the locker room and used an eight-minute, 90-yard drive to score its third touchdown of the day. The Big Red blocked the extra point attempt, but the Quakers held a 20-7 advantage. The Big Red scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter via two long passes from Elliot Corey to make it a 20-14 game, but Cornell was unable to put together a final game-winning drive. Corey completed 5-of-9 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown, to go along with 55 rushing yards. Schiavetta also excelled in his first game as a starting running back, leading the team with 71 yards and a rushing touchdown, as well as 74 yards in the air and a receiving touchdown. Schiavetta also posted a game-high 179 all-purpose yards. Defensively, Clay Hemminger had a game-high 14 tackles and blocked a Penn PAT, while Tim Kozen had two sacks for the Big Red.
THE QUAKERS' LAST GAME: After starting the season 3-0 for the second straight year, Penn lost a heartbreaker at Army, 35-26. The game between the two best offenses in the league had a surprisingly slow start. With just minutes remaining in the first half, Army led 7-6. Todd Busler charged the high-power Penn offense with a 76-yard touchdown pass to Whit Shaw to break open the scoring, giving Penn the 13-7 lead. Army retaliated quickly, scoring a touchdown of its own to regain the one point advantage, but Penn closed out the half with a long 45-yard field goal to take a 16-14 lead into halftime. Army came out of the break storming, scoring a touchdown on 10 plays. The Quakers were unable to recover from this deficit as the squads traded scores and Penn lost, 35-26. Busler had an amazing game, throwing for 429 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, Michael McMullen led the Quakers with six tackles.
CORNELL'S LAST GAME: Coming off a disappointing loss to Navy on Oct. 2, the Big Red was in need of a big win and fortunately, up next on the schedule was a Princeton team that had not won in nearly a decade. Cornell kept that streak alive by easily defeating the Tigers, 44-0. The Big Red rushed for 276 yards offensively as nine different players had at least three carries. Backup quarterback Timothy Bruhn led the way with 91 yards on 12 carries and a 23-yard second quarter touchdown run. He also completed 2-of-5 passes for 53 yards and a 13-yard touchdown pass to Chris Latimer in the third quarter. He relieved Elliott Corey, who passed for 101 yards on 2-of-4 attempts, hitting on long touchdown passes of 54 yards to Upal Sarker and 47 yards to D.J. Schiavetta in the first quarter of play. Matthew Pierce and Daniel Rowoth each had rushing touchdowns in the victory. Defensively, Colin Lounsberry had a team-high six tackles, including 1.5 for a loss, while Jim Burger had five tackles, a blocked kick, a fumble recover, an interception and a 14-yard tackle for loss. In all, Cornell forced six turnovers (four fumbles, two interceptions), blocked a punt for a safety and registered nine tackles for loss.
CSFL STANDINGS: At the mid-way point of the CSFL season, Cornell finds itself in third place behind the two service academies. Although the Big Red is only a half game out of first place, if Cornell wants a share of the CSFL title, the team will most likely have to defeat Penn this weekend and Army next weekend.
|
1.
|
Army
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2-0
|
4-0
|
|
2.
|
Navy
|
2-0
|
4-0
|
|
3.
|
Cornell
|
2-1
|
2-2
|
|
4.
|
Penn
|
1-1
|
3-1
|
|
5.
|
Mansfield
|
1-3
|
1-3
|
|
6.
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Princeton
|
0-2
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0-4
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HOLD OFF THE BROOMS: Although Penn was victorious in the first 2009 match up between these two squads, it is by no means a guarantee that Cornell will lose twice to Penn in the same season. Penn has not won both the non-conference game and the conference game against Cornell in the same season since 2002, but the Quakers have had their chances. Three times in that time span (2004, 2005, and 2008), Cornell has fallen in the non-conference game but has won when it mattered in conference play. Cornell has not lost to a team twice in the same season since it lost two games to Navy in 2005.
MARCHING ON: Opposing defenses are having difficulties stopping the Big Red running game. DJ Schiavetta's 266 yards on the ground leads a Cornell team that has a chance at Big Red history. Cornell has already accumulated 848 yards on the ground at an average of 212 rushing yards a game. This season's total is the most amount of yards a Big Red team has accumulated in a total season since the 2005 team had 948 yards. With three games remaining, Cornell needs only 132 more yards to become only the ninth team since 1971 to have 1,000 yards on the ground. The 1975 Big Red 150-pounders hold the program record of 1,494 yards and 249 yards a game.
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Cornell Rank
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Year
|
Rushing Yards
|
Games
|
Yards per Game
|
|
1
|
1975
|
1494
|
6
|
249
|
|
2
|
1982
|
1378
|
7
|
197
|
|
3
|
1986
|
1231
|
7
|
176
|
|
4
|
1974
|
1177
|
6
|
196
|
|
5
|
1997
|
1170
|
6
|
195
|
|
6
|
1973
|
1012
|
6
|
169
|
|
7
|
1972
|
1001
|
6
|
167
|
|
8
|
1983
|
1001
|
7
|
143
|
|
|
2009
|
848
|
4
|
212
|
QB SHUFFLE: Last Friday against Princeton, Cornell had three quarterbacks throw for at least 50 yards in the same game for the first time in the history of the program. Elliott Corey (101 yards), Gerard Cicero (54), and Timothy Bruhn (53) combined to lead the passing attack for the Big Red. It is only the eighth time since 1971 that a Cornell team has had three players with at least 50 passing yards in a season.
TAMING THE TIGERS: The Big Red's victory over Princeton on Oct. 9 extended Cornell's win-streak over the Tigers to 17 games. The longest winning streak Cornell has ever had against an opponent was 19 games against Columbia, starting in 1958 and lasting until 1976 when the Lions' team disbanded. The longest streak Cornell has against the current teams in the CSFL is 17 victories against Penn from1974-1988.
UP NEXT: Cornell will return home to take on Army on Friday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m.
